Birthday celebrations -- 130 years

In a tradition dating back five years from when Don turned a half century, and my dad turned 7x10, we invited my parents over for a birthday celebration. My mom enjoys entertaining, but sometimes she also enjoys being entertained.

A challenge in our family is always what to make so everyone can eat something, and no one feels like a leper because of their dietary preferences. As I made dinner for the five of us, I kept thinking this is why I don't entertain more often.

A quick run down:

• Dad is gluten-free and has been for most of my life
• I eat low-carb and have for the past three years
• Ashley and my mom don't consume dairy (including butter, cheese, milk, etc.)
• Don can eat everything, but has strong food preferences
• Ashley will not eat beef for ethical reasons (I asked her not to explore the inhumane ways other animals are treated until she is in college and cooking for herself)

Good luck!

The main meal was not overly crazy. I made a salad (okay, Wegmans made the mixed greens), and created a salad bar of ingredients with Don's work. The main course was spaghetti squash and regular spaghetti. I had cheese and meat spaghetti sauce on the side, with plain spaghetti sauce for Ashley (she did eat the turkey meat spaghetti sauce).

The real coup was dessert. I recently discovered the cookbook Paleo Sweets by Kelsey Ale through an email ad. I was very leery about buying it because the ad felt shading, as did the buying process. I've had it a few weeks and have not had any odd charges appear on my credit card, so I trust we are safe. All of the recipes are Paleo -- meaning no dairy, no grains, no granulated sugar (maple syrup, honey, and coconut sugar are used instead). They are not nut-free.

Long term readers know this blog is not about making money, it is about sharing bits of our life with our family and friends. That said, I received no money for this post.

We have now made three recipes out of this book (chocolate cheesecake, carrot cake, and mini flourless chocolate cakes). They have all been deemed delicious, even by people who eat gluten, dairy, and sugar.

Ashley made the mini flourless chocolate cakes. They disappeared without being photographed. 

Skip ahead to the chocolate cheesecake. It is like fudge. Even with my mistakes (called for dates, I used figs) it still turned out delicious. It is huge and we are still chipping away at it five days later. Lots and lots of cashew nuts used instead of dairy products.

My second attempt at baking was the carrot cake. I am so not a baker. My idea of measuring is tossing things together and hoping for the best. I couldn't find plain gelatin, so I used an orange jell-o in the frosting (next time I'll go to a few more stores to get the right ingredient). I also only soaked the

cashew nuts for the cream cheese icing for an hour instead of the requested four hours. To me a recipe is a suggestion not an order. Despite my lackadaisical approach to baking, everyone raved about the cake and had seconds. 

It was the first time in years everyone had the same dessert, and we all loved it. I anticipate we'll make more recipes out of this cookbook, or rather I hope Ashley (the baker) will make lots more recipes out of this book.

Even Lucy got in the picture

Birthday boys